For treasurers
You did not sign up to be an accountant.
You volunteered, and then discovered the role comes with a bank account, a federal filing, an annual review, and a handbook full of rules nobody walked you through. This is the job, in the order it actually happens.
The job
What a treasurer is actually on the hook for.
Book everything, including the money no export shows
Cash from the carnival box, a paper check for dues, and the reimbursement you wrote on Tuesday never appear in a processor payout file. The register holds all of it, cash-basis, coded to a budget line.
Split the lumped deposit
One Friday ACH mixes dues, carnival, and fees — and the fees were already netted out inside the payout. Book the deposit once, split it onto lines, and let Square, Stripe, and Givebacks each sit in their own clearing account so you can tell which one is out of balance.
Close the month
Statement date, ending balance, tick what cleared. The reconciliation will not lock until the difference is exactly $0, and locking records a non-signer's name and date.
Never approve your own money out
Reimbursements arrive on a public link with a required receipt. The submitter cannot approve. A second officer must authorize. Paying writes the register payment for you, so the queue and the checkbook cannot drift apart.
Report at every meeting, in the format they expect
Prior balance, this month by line, year-to-date by line, budget versus actual — across every account, not just checking. One click, meeting-ready.
Know the deadline before it is a problem
Your fiscal year end sets the 990 date: the 15th day of the fifth month after it. June 30 means November 15. Miss three in a row and the IRS revokes your exempt status automatically.
Reimbursement · $64.18
Submitted by Maya Brooks on a public link — no account
Carnival balloon arch — Party City
Receipt attached · paid on a personal card, not out of the cash box
- Receipt attachedrequired
- First officer approvalnot the submitter
- Second officer approvala different officer
Your year
It lands at the same time every year.
July
Close the old year, hand the review committee its packet, change the signature card
September
Membership adopts the budget — nothing should be spent before that vote
October
Carnival and book fair: the two heaviest cash weeks of the year
November
990 due if your year ended June 30
January
Half-year check, and the budget amendment if lines ran over
June
Final reconciliation, then hand over a system instead of a shoebox
Start where you sit on the board
Open the books for Maple Ridge Elementary.
A full seeded school year — carnival cash, a lumped processor deposit, a restricted playground fund, a dual-control reimbursement, and an open September reconciliation. No signup, no card.